Paramedics meet the sick children after the plane lands at Heathrow (Picture: Jim Bennett)

Paramedics were forced to meet a plane when it landed at Heathrow after 60 children were taken ill during a flight between South Africa and the UK.

The youngsters, members of the Wales-based choir Only Kids Aloud, became sick with vomiting and diarrhea at various stages throughout the flight from Cape Town to London, via Dubai.

The London Ambulance Service was alerted to the sick passengers and paramedics were sent to meet the flight after it landed shortly after 7.30am today.

A total of 60 children were checked over and 11 of them were taken to Hillingdon Hospital to be treated for vomiting and diarrhea.

However, they have now been discharged and the entire choir party are this afternoon continuing their journey back home to Wales by road.

It is unclear exactly what caused the mass sickness, but an adult accompanying the choir on their trip to South Africa said she believed the children were suffering from a mixture of tiredness, travel sickness and a tummy bug.

Thanks for all your well wishes. Pleased to report we are now all on the buses heading back to Wales….. pic.twitter.com/RJinw3gQhw

The children’s choir, with members aged between nine and 13-years old from across Wales, had performed at sell out concerts in Cape Town. They sang with Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel on Friday and Saturday night.

According to Bet Davies, from the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff which formed the choir, the children had been rehearsing intensely and had not had much sleep.

She said: ‘Some were sick on take off, some on landing and some during the turbulence, so because of the rules in the airline industry – we were travelling with Emirates – they say if more than three children are sick on the same flight you need to have paramedics in to check on the children.

‘We were also anxious that they were checked out before travelling back to Wales as we have a duty of care towards them.’

She added: ‘The medics say it could have been somebody with a bit of a bug before they travelled or it could be a combination of what I describe as nausea , tiredness and not drinking enough.’

A spokeswoman for London Ambulance Service said: ‘We were called at 07.41 to reports of a number of children taken unwell on a flight to Heathrow. We sent a number of resources to the scene including four ambulance crews, our hazardous area response team and a paramedic on a bicycle.’

A spokeswoman for Emirates added: ‘A small group of passengers who transited via Dubai and flew on Emirates to London Heathrow on May 5 informed our crew that they were unwell during the flight. They were given medical attention on arrival. The affected passengers were part of the same travel group who began their journey in Cape Town.’